Toei Launches Game Studio, Won't Touch Dragon Ball

You'd think a company sitting on Dragon Ball, One Piece, Digimon, and Sailor Moon would lead with one of those names when launching a game studio. Toei Company is doing the opposite.

Toei Games, the newly formed gaming arm of the Japanese entertainment conglomerate, was officially unveiled today by Toei president and CEO Fumio Yoshimura. According to the company's press release, as reported by Eurogamer and GamesIndustry.biz, the label will launch games primarily on Steam before expanding to Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, and Xbox. The first game reveal is scheduled for this Friday, April 24.

Here's where it gets interesting. Toei Games will not use any of the company's existing anime properties. Not Dragon Ball. Not One Piece. Not Sailor Moon. The press release is explicit: "Our goal is to create a new IP that will captivate the world, starting with games. The initial lineup of titles will not be games using Toei's existing IPs, but rather completely new game titles created by talented creators from Japan and abroad."

Yoshimura added: "Toei Games aims to create entirely new IPs from scratch, rather than simply utilising existing IPs. We will the technology and expertise we have cultivated through video production into our new game business, delivering Toei's unique entertainment experience to players around the world."

Why Skip the Sure Thing?

On paper, launching with an original IP when you own some of the most recognizable franchises on the planet sounds like leaving money on the table. But I think it's actually the smartest move Toei could make. Dragon Ball and One Piece games already have an established home at Bandai Namco, and the expectations attached to those names are enormous. If Toei Games shipped a mediocre Dragon Ball title out of the gate, it wouldn't just hurt the studio; it would invite direct, unfavorable comparisons to Sparking! Zero, FighterZ, and the Xenoverse series. Starting fresh lets them prove they can actually make games before anyone measures them against Bandai Namco's output.

The timing is as well. This announcement landed on the same weekend as Dragon Ball Games Battle Hour 2026, where Bandai Namco revealed Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero's massive Super Limit Breaking NEO expansion, Dragon Ball Xenoverse 3, Xenoverse 2's final DLC, and a new Goku SS4 for FighterZ. Toei chose to announce a gaming label that deliberately distances itself from Dragon Ball while the franchise was dominating every gaming news feed. If that's not a statement of intent, I don't know what is.

There's also a generational argument here that Eurogamer flagged from the press release: younger audiences might want new characters and worlds rather than properties their parents grew up with. That's a real bet, and it's a big one. Anime-adjacent original IP has worked before in games; Genshin Impact proved you don't need an existing franchise to capture a global audience if the world-building is strong enough.

I'm curious to see what Friday's reveal looks like. Toei has decades of experience in visual storytelling, character design, and world-building across animation and live-action film. Whether any of that translates to interactive entertainment is a completely open question. The company's press release mentions collaborating with creators from both Japan and abroad, which suggests external development talent rather than a purely internal team. We'll know more in a few days; Toei Games' first title reveal is set for April 24.